She’s probably the most controversial woman in Chinese history - Wu Zetian, who rose from lowly concubine to become the only woman in all Chinese history to dare to take the title "Emperor"
As archaeologists investigate hidden tombs, spectacular pagodas, gigantic palaces and priceless treasures from her time, they are uncovering a very different story of China’s female Emperor, her skills and her empire. Wu Zetian’s China was a military, economic and cultural superpower, whose influence stretched from the edge of the Mediterranean to Japan and India. Recent discoveries reveal the wealth and stability of her reign de ella, and point to her skills de ella as a politician and a leader. But they also provide tantalizing new evidence of the cruelty and violence at her heart of her regime.
In Chinas Valley of the Kings there stands a tall carved stone It marks the tomb of a woman who rose from lowly concubine to become emperor of China. The only woman to dare claim that title. But Chinas female Emperor has gone down in history as a controversial and deeply divisive ruler. To have a woman with such power really threatened the establishment. Not only did Wu Zetian rock the boat in some ways. She overturned it. It would have been a very dangerous thing to get in the way of Wu Zetian.
I honestly wasn’t expecting that that is really exciting seeing this with your eyes is incredible experience. Lost treasures have even more fantastic than I thought it would be. Now for the first time experts are discovering how one woman managed to rule all the Imperial China. And whether Wu Zetian really was an evil dictator or one of the most misunderstood leaders in history. The only female emperor in Chinas 2,000 years of Imperial history was named Wu Zetian move the celestial
She first entered court in 637 ad as a 13 year old concubine. Part of the harem of mistresses serving emperor Taizhong of the Tang dynasty. Tang Taizhong had more than a hundred concubines by repute. She was beautiful. She was charming. She was entertaining. She also had a real zest for life Concubine Wu soon got herself noticed. When she entered the palace. She quickly gained favour of this emperor and her relationship of become closer and with the rise her of her influence at court and she proved to be politically very skillful and she’s very shrewd. When the old Emperor died Wu Zetian became at first concubine to his son Gaozong. Then in 655 he made her his Empress. But emperor gaozong was a sickly man. And gradually Wu became the real power behind the throne. Until in 690 with her husband dead Wu Zetian stepped from the shadows and declared herself Emperor.
Yet Chinas ancient chroniclers were scathing in their accounts of her rise to power History tells us a really dark and bleak picture about Empress Wu. One of the most brutal stories we have is that she killed her own child just to frame the previous Empress and gain station at court. Were also told that Wu Zhao had her two. Rivals legs and arms cut off and then dip them in a vat of wine and let them slowly bleed to death. So this paints a picture of a devious manipulating calculating self-serving and absolutely ruthless Virago hell-bent on power.
Even after she claimed the throne were told Wu Zetian was ruthless in her reign. This is the tomb of Wu Zetians second son Li Xian. He was a threat to his mother Li Xian was accused of treason and he was exiled to the most remote corner of the Chinese Empire locked in a room and forced to commit suicide by poisoning. So this is a mother killing her own son so that she can hold on to power Wu Zetian led China for nearly 50 years. According to legend she was a tyrant whose reign brought disaster to the Empire.
Now archaeologists run earthling new evidence the challenges this version of Wus story. The professor Zhang Jialing is the world’s leading archaeologists to the tang era. Today the city of Xian has grown to encompass old Changan, Wus capital. The population of 12 million Xian is rapidly expanding. It’s also home to professor Zhangs conservation facility. Historian dr. Harry Rothschild has heard about some intriguing recent finds that date to Wus rein. Whoa. It’s amazing seeing all these Tang artifacts. I’ve been studying Wu Zhao, Wu Zetian for 17 years and finally here. We are at Ground Zero you can sense her everywhere here in Changan. The figurines show life in Wus capital the musicians traders and nobles buried with the dead to ensure a comfortable afterlife
But there’s also something unexpected here a first clue to what Wus China was really like. So were looking at an unprecedented boost for the position of women you’re talking about a female Emperor here after all and so that. Translated directly in this sort of greater opportunity and greater freedom for women in the late 7th in early 8th century. It seems like there may be more to Wu Zetian that meets the eye. Ancient chroniclers denigrated her reign. But many recent tomb discoveries like the women in men’s clothing hinted a rather different story. Professor Tonia Eckfeld is an expert on Tang era tombs.
She’s on her way to see one of the most amazing archaeological finds in all Chinese history It’s amazing it’s even more fantastic than I thought it would be. This is the fabled Phoenix crown of ancient China a long-lost treasure from the Tang era written about in ancient texts, but never seen until now This priceless headdress is held under lock and key and can only be viewed by special appointment Tonia believes that is a vital clue to the truth about Wu Zetians China. There’s an enormous amount to investigate in this piece.
Looking closely the metal work is filigree, and there’s a lot of granulation. Granulation consists of tiny little beads of gold. The whole crown is like a peacock displaying its tail. There are very fine flowers made of mother-of-pearl and pearl. There are even fine bunches of grapes made of Chinese glass. So really what we see here is something cosmopolitan and something rich something fashionable full of
luxury items not only in the making of it, but also in the imagery involved. Professors Jung’s team found the Phoenix crown in a grave that was already in exceptional find, a tomb that had never been raided Inside was a skeleton and on the skull the beehive hairstyle studded with jewels.
The skeleton was of a young woman named Li Chui a minor descendant of the Tang royal family. For 18 months the team carefully picked out every single jewel and stone. Slowly piecing together the headdress to reveal its true glory. But when they used x-ray chromatography to discover where the different jewels and stones came from they were in for a surprise. The headdress has carnelian from Uzbekistan 2,900 miles to the west of Changan, garnet from India 3,000 miles southwest Amber from Iran 4,000 miles away and ivory from Sri Lanka 4500 miles from Wus capital.
The crown gives us clues about Wu Zetians society. Life was rich. There’s a lot of luxury. It was a real high point in the arts. What we can see here is the embodiment of all of the wealth and all of the treasure that the Tang court could attract Li Chui wasn’t even a princess if she was buried wearing this priceless headdress Clear evidence of the extraordinary wealth of China at the time. Her tomb holds one final secret. She was buried with the Jade silkworm in her hand. Another clue that reveals Wus ambitions to make her China the wealthiest empire in the world. In seventh century China a woman named Wu Zetian rose from lonely concubine to Empress. With her husband, the Emperors sick. She ruled the Empire in all but name Ancient chroniclers dismissed her reign as a time of calamity. But todays experts think the truth may be very different. In a tomb 50 miles northwest of wus capital city, Changan.
Tonia Eckfeld is investigating murals that provide strong evidence of Wus influence and power Here we can see a mural of foreign ambassadors coming to court. Ambassadors came from far and wide in this mural we can see a Mongolian a Korean and a townshend monk perhaps from Rome or Syria. There’s a man from Xinjian from Greece and from Persia. It’s interesting because we can see that the The Ambassadors are in quite subservient positions their hands are clasped before them and. Seem quite in awe of the situation.The mural suggests that Wu Zetian was a respected international leader of her time. I think Wu Zetian was a consummate politician she saw advantage in the use of diplomacy rather than warfare and led the society that was quite open and open to foreigners. Many foreigners at high level beat a path to her door. Recent research suggests that there were 25,000 foreigners living in Wus Changan. Many were traders and more than anything, they were after one Chinese product.
Since the 4th millennium BC China had produced the finest quality silk. By Wus era the demand for Chinese silk had made it as valuable as gold. The ancient trade routes of the Silk Road began in Changan spreading east and west linking China to other nations. But by the mid-7th century bandits and robbers threatened to stop trade in its tracks new discoveries reveal Wu Zetians master strain. She built military outposts far into Central Asia securing safe passage all along the Silk routes. Harry Rothschild has come to the very start of the Silk Road in Changan to find the latest archaeological evidence of trade in Wus capital.
This is incredible. We’ve been allowed to come right down here into the Western market We’re standing right on the edge of the canal looking right across into this square where you had all of these stalls arrayed where rows of iron mongers and butchers and tanners and silversmiths, goldsmiths, calligraphy brush salesmen would be arrayed where you could find anything under the Sun.
If you get down closely here you can see Ruts that have been left in in the earth. From the carts that went over this bridge you really feel the ambience of the Western market. In Wu Zetians Changan, the east and west markets marked the start of the silk road. In the West market goods from lands to the west of Changan were bought and sold. Silk Road trade not only made Wus Empire wealthy it brought so many foreigners to China that her capital became one of the first truly cosmopolitan cities in the world. People from all across the world traveled to China and many chose to stay.
And this multicultural influence can still be felt in present day Xian. We are walking along the Huimin street the Chinese Muslims street on the very heart of old Tang China and it is bustling it is vibrant. It is full of energy. As you see by the milling bustle going on behind me now. I think these are sugared figs or dried figs here these came from along the Silk Road from Persia. So this is a kind of wheat kernel candy and he’s pulling this taffy then afterwards they’ll take the taffy and they’ll Roll it out with pumpkin seeds or with sesame seeds and then turn it into this hard candy.
The sesame came from Persia and the Middle East along the Silk Road. So this is this is sort of the fruit of something that was trafficked thirteen hundred years ago during Wu Zetians time It is good. I think in terms of the multiculturalism the vibrancy the bustle the energy just the constant commercial buzz
you have a great sense of what was going on during the time by 662 with her husband the Emperor ill Empress Wu Zetian was an effective control of the whole Chinese Empire.Trade had brought wealth and luxury Evident from the valuable artifacts that have been found and Wu wanted to flaunt this to the rest of the world.
To do this she planned the expansion of the Imperial Palace on a scale never seen before. When archaeologists first uncovered the foundations they were amazed by what they found. This is one of the huge gated entrances rebuilt to scale on those very foundations. This is Danfeng Gate the southern gate of Daming palace. Just looking up at it conjures a sense of awe. For me it’s a statement. It provides a sense of Imperial grandeur. It makes any one sort of standing before the gate feel a sense of their own smallness and insignificance Wu Zetians Daming Palace was the largest in the world completed in just three years the scale of the complex outshone anything anyone had ever seen.
Look at the size of Daming Palace. This is twice as big as old pompeii. Its five times bigger than the Forbidden City of the Ming and Qing Dynasty Emperors its twenty-two times the size of the Acropolis. The scope the grand juror. It’s absolutely staggering. You can read about it but you don’t really appreciate that magnitude until you step out on this balcony and you look out at this vista. There are archery grounds. There are polo grounds, cockfighting arenas, places for drama troops to practice and that just the beginning. There are three or four more palaces beyond that Emissaries coming from foreign countries would come in with their jaws dropping with just a sort of starry-eyed wonder and they would feel like they were looking at a celestial world a paradise on earth.
I do think that was about imposing her power with the majesty and size of Daming Palace But Harry thinks this place is unusual in more than just its extreme size. Changan when it was first designed was the model of perfect Imperial symmetry. The old Imperial Palace was in the north central position within the Tang capital Changan. This new Daming Palace was outside of the city walls altogether. It’s very unusual to build a palace outside of this usual model of imperial symmetry there’s one good reason for 12 years Wu Zhao had languished in the old imperial palace. For her, this was a chance to get a new start to distance herself from her lowly and obscure past as a fifth rank talent.
Here where you have this stunning new imperial grandeur was an opportunity to sort of reinvent herself
it’s becoming clear that Wu Zetian made China a global superpower. Contrary to how the legends were written she was at the center of a web of trade wealth and political influence that stretched from Japan to the Mediterranean. In the seventh century Wu Zetians capital city Changan was in a class of its own
So Changan during Wu Zetians time would have been an absolutely massive city. There’s supposed to be almost a million people living within the city walls and another million outside which just outclasses anything else in the world at that time. Jonathan Dugdale from Birmingham University thinks he knows one reason for Wu Zetians remarkable success. She would win the support of the common people through the reinvigorated religion that was sweeping China Buddhism Wu Zetian realized patronizing Buddhism was a great way to please the people and what better way than building new temples and pagodas. So one of the main ones she built was this one right behind this the great wild goose pagoda
The great goose pagoda was originally built in 652. As someone who studied pagodas for a long time, this is particularly awesome.
The pagoda was an important temple housing sacred Buddhist writings But just 50 years after it was built. It was destroyed in an earthquake Wu, who had been brought up in the Buddhist faith spending time in a nunnery, decided to rebuild the pagoda but on a much bigger scale Jonathan suspects that this new building was a record breaker and that Wu surpassed herself in her desire to make her mark in her people’s faith. And he thinks he can prove it.
I would really like to find out how tall this building was when Wu Zetian rebuilt it. Because it be really interesting if she’s decided to build it significantly bigger for a reason, But first he has a problem to solve. Wu Zetians pagoda was partially damaged by a second earthquake. The top three floors toppled
So Jonathan has to work out how high her structure would have been with the missing floors onwards and upwards. One two Okay that 40 steps for that one and that put us on the fourth floor now35, 36, 37, 38. One two three...
He’s found a pattern in the number of steps. Previous floors we’ve gone from 43 to 40 to 38 37. So for the next floor is either 37 or 36. We should make an accurate calculation 34, 35, 36, 37. This is good, were still decreasing so this is good we might be able to do something last one. Let’s do the math people. By working out the pattern and height of the steps per story 136 Jonathan calculates with the missing three floors the true height of wus pagoda was close to a staggering 300 feet high. Which would have made it not only the tallest brick pagoda in Asia. But possibly one of the tallest buildings in the world at that time. It would have been like nothing else that anyone had seen before in the cityscape
now it still looks impressive. But in those days it would have soared above absolutely everything else in the sea. Who built this record-breaking structure as a statement targeted directly at her people. There’s so many different things she stands to gain from building a massive pagoda in such a visual space like this.
The majority of the population of Changan at this time are Buddhists and they will see that she’s supporting Buddhism. She’s supporting their religion Wu Zetian ordered the building of new Buddhist temples in every town in her empire creating allies among the common people of China. And she didn’t stop there 250 miles east of Changan in Henan province are the Longman Grottoes Caves Historian Lou Young thinks there may be key to understanding Wus power. This is a sacred place for Buddhist. The religion and pilgrims have been coming here for centuries. But I have been told there is a connection that link and pursue directly to their faith. Members of the elite paid vast sums to carve small caves into this sacred hillside. There are over 1,400 housing over 100,000 Buddha figures. The smallest is just an inch tall. The biggest is an imposing 57 feet high commissioned by Wu Zetian herself and. It has a story to tell Wow, isn’t this impressive?
What a view it is gigantic. The official name of this Buddha is Vairocana, which is the radiant Buddha of a great Sun. This is basically a universal Buddha Symbolized the power and indominus of this religion Wu Zetian wanted to put herself at the heart of Buddhism in the eyes of her people. To do this, it’s possible she took one audacious step and ordered the statue to be carved in her own image. The legend says that this statue actually is modeled after her face. She want to make this a statement of her power. This will give her more credibility because this is the age of Buddhism and there’s a massive follower of this particular religion and by creating this temple, she basically put herself on the center stage of not just religious action, but also the society in general. You know the seeing this with your own eyes is incredible experience. This is so impressive to me and I think she got what she wanted
The long men grottoes and the great goose pagoda suggests that Wu Zetian was a skillful tactician who knew how to use religion to promote her own status and keep her Empire happy. And upriver from the giant Buddha the series of very recent archaeological discoveries reveal another of the secrets of her success.
This is spectacular. Here in Luoyang. Professor wangju and his team have been excavating giant granaries designed for storing rice. Inscriptions enabled the team to date each granary precisely Wu Zetian ordered rice from eastern China to be brought here by canal stockpiled in these vast grain stores then redistributed in times of need. During the early 7th century China suffered prolonged droughts leading to famines. But under Wu Zetian, improvements to the rice stores design were to prove invaluable. Wow the massive scale of this granary really testify. The power and the capability of Empress Wus regime and she is a very capable ruler. That the grain kept here can last for many years. So this is not just contributed to the stability of her regime but also for the future of tang dynasty as well
Archeology is revealing that Wu Zetian was an efficient administrator who ensured her people and her soldiers were always fed. But despite her successes, as a woman she could never rely on the support of the aristocratic establishment. She needed allies.
So in a radical break with tradition, Wu allowed commoners to join in the administration of her government. She encouraged women to be entrepreneurs and permitted Chinese women to divorce and marry freely for the first time. But in a moment of breathtaking audacity, she even appointed a female prime minister by the name of Shangguan Waner. Harry has been told of evidence professor Zhangs team have found in recent excavations in the Prime Ministers tomb. Suggesting her life had a controversial final chapter. This is Shangguan Waner epitaph I’ve been waiting since. September of 2013 when this was excavated for a chance to actually see this in person and its finally happening today. So I am ecstatic. This says she had 47 springs and autumns at the time of her death. But when Zhangs team found the prime ministers tomb. It had been purposely destroyed. And this destruction is key to understanding why the bleak picture of Wu Zetian has been passed on through the centuries.
This was thorough, kind of malicious and intentional destruction that had been done to the tomb Shangguan Waners tomb had been dismantled by order of emperors Ruizong, Wu Zetians sucessor Harry believes there is a direct link between this destruction and the chronicles the tell of Wus evil and incompetence. Now that I know that Shangguan Waners grave was dismantled this is part of an intentional process an intentional destruction of vestiges of female power during the late 7th and early 8th century. The Confucian patriarchy striking back and re-establishing normative power By 690 ad Wu Zetian had ascended the throne to become the first female emperor ever to rule the Chinese Empire. But her opponents were determined to unseat her. She had annihilated many of her enemies but where there’s power there are always rivals and there’s always a contest.
Although there is clearly more to Wu Zetian than the ancient writers led us to believe. There’s also emerge that some of the tales of her callousness were not just propaganda. Art historian, Dr. Jenny Liu has discovered new texts in the tomb of Wus great granddaughter princess Yongtai that suggests even blood knew no mercy I’ve studied other princess epitaph as well. And this is a passage here, which I’ve never seen. You have the character for anger. Okay, and anger at the two boys and their secret medicine
So this passage tells you what happened to princess Yongtai. These are characters that are usually used for the miscarriage or the loss of a child and it is the Zhang brothers secret medicine or poison that made her miscarriage leading to her death.
This refers to Wu Zetian because it’s very possible that she was the instigator of the poison that Zhang brothers were very close to her and they did her bidding and she was known to have pitted people against each other in court and she would cause one to poison or kill the other and. She did this with officials and now it seems maybe she did it with her relations her kin. What was the motive? Why? Why does she want the princess dead?
She was bearing the child of two of the strongest clans in contention for the throne and it might be possible that she did not want this child to be born no matter the gender. It would have been a very dangerous thing to get in the way of Wu Zetian. As emperor of China Wu Zetian had successfully fought off all rivals to hold on to power. But the fight had been bloody Wu Zetian became incredibly ruthless She had hundreds of members of the ruling family executed. The violence and reign of terror you could say was extreme. But she was not without a conscience. She was very troubled by what she’d done. With her mind turning towards her afterlife, Wu wanted forgiveness of her sins She wrote a confession and had it engraved onto a golden tablet and had that tablet taken to a holy place to perform a sacred ritual. So here we are on Mount Song.
It’s the central of the five sacred peaks of ancient China and it became a very important place in Wu Zetians later life. In the year 700, Wu Zetian came to this mountain. She had a golden tablet made on which she inscribes her sins which was then cast down the mountain as a as a form of absolution. And we know precisely what that gold tablet said because nearly 1300 years later a farmer found it lying in the earth on the mountain slopes. Its description was short but its message profound. And said.
The ruler Wu Zhao admires the true doubt with its long-lived immortal spirits Her servant has been commissioned to go reverently to the pinnacle of the central peak of Mount Song and cast the golden tally that might expiate her sinful nature. What you can tell by the fact she’s throwing away this tablet in such a visible fashion is that she’s really trying to demonstrate.To other people that she was repentant
it’s a very visible ceremonial thing it saying I have sinned and I wish to be absolved of these sins and
And whether she actually believed that was the case or not. I think is less important than the impression it would create to other people. The end of Wu Zetians reign had become fraught with scheming and rebellion among the male nobility at her court. The higher she goes she becomes a tall poppy she becomes a bigger target Jonathan has come to a remote location in the foothills of Mount Song that Wu retreated to in her last years. It’s awesome. I’ve wanted to come here for a long time. This is quite special. This is the Songyue pagoda its. Important Wu Zetians life because she’s to come here to worship. Its 1,500 years old not only is it still standing, it still looks pretty good So Wu Zetian would have come into this probably into this very building because this is the original structure from 1500 years ago I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is a phenomenal building. You can feel why Wu Zetian would want to come here.
I mean Changan at this time is politically very difficult and she wants to come here to just escape all that. It’s a place of safety and refuge. Throughout her life Wu Zetian had shattered Confucian tradition
Rising from a lowly concubine to become the only female Emperor of China. She had achieved much
She made China a better place for women, the Empire wealthy, peaceful, her capital city vibrant and cosmopolitan and her population fed and free to practice their religion.
But the male establishment was closing in and the She Emperor was too old to fight back. When Wu Zetians rule came to an end she was 80. In fact, she wasn’t usurped she abdicated so. She was still maintaining her own sense of control. She lived for a few more months and she went quietly her time had come Emperor Wu Zetian died in 705. This is Qianling the Tang dynasty mausoleum complex her final resting place. She’s buried in a secret chamber. Deep inside the mountain alongside the Emperor she succeeded, her husband Gaozong.
Were on the spiritual path.Walking toward Wu Zetians tomb. Its impressive. Its daunting its powerful
The area that it covers is almost the same as the Damming Palace. So it’s a huge area The path to Wu Zetians tomb is protected by Imperial bodyguards and sculptures to ward off evil spirits. Beside the Gateway entrance the two sets of foreign emissaries lined up to pay homage. Being here is a really awesome experience.
It’s so impressive. Wu Zetian may have held power for more than half a century but in this place really her spirit and her sense of majesty and authority and power has lived on for many centuries. Standing along Qianling is the carved steely honoring Wu Zetians resting place. By her decree, it was left blank inviting historians to write of her achievements and they did so distorting her story for centuries. But having discovered more about her life, what would todays experts now carve upon the stand. I would write something along the lines of she was woman who did what she had to stay in power. She was a great leader. She had a lot of political acumen.
But most of all I’d say she was the woman that proved that in a man’s world. You didn’t need a man to lead it. The one word that I would put is just maverick because of the way that she went about gaining power. I’d write nothing for her entire Idiosyncratic unprecedented political career. Defied labels and for thirteen hundred years. She’s defied historical verdict I think that the blankness of the steely is a perfect monument.
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